CrossOver Alternatives for Mac

There are many alternatives to CrossOver for Mac if you are looking for a replacement. The best Mac alternative is Wine, which is both free and Open Source. If that doesn't suit you, our users have ranked more than 25 alternatives to CrossOver and 16 are available for Mac so hopefully you can find a suitable replacement. Other interesting Mac alternatives to CrossOver are PlayOnLinux - PlayOnMac, Whisky, Parallels Desktop and Mythic.

filter to find the best alternatives

CrossOver alternatives are mainly Compatibility Layer Tools but may also be Game Library Managers or Virtualization Tools.  Filter by these or use the filter bar below if you want a narrower list of alternatives or looking for a specific functionality of CrossOver.
CrossOver iconCrossOver
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CrossOver allows you to install many popular Windows applications and games on your Intel OS X Mac or Linux computer.

More about CrossOver
CrossOver alternatives page was last updated Jan 6, 2025
  1. Wine icon
     703 likes

    An advanced, free open-source tool enabling Windows applications to run on Linux and other systems without emulation. It offers configuration options, supports diverse operating systems, and benefits from continuous updates and robust community support to enhance Windows app compatibility.

    41 Wine alternatives
    Wine screenshot 1

    License model

    • FreeOpen Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Linux
    • Android
    • Android Tablet
    • BSD
    • Flathub

    Properties

    1.  Lightweight

    Features

    1.  Run Windows software
    2.  Compatibility Layer
    3.  Emulation
    4.  Ad-free
    Wine iconCrossOver Icon

    Wine VS CrossOver

    Is Wine a good alternative to CrossOver?
     
    Comments about Wine as an Alternative to CrossOver
     
    Guest

    It’s free. And you never have to buy anything for wine. You can keep it as long as you want!! And I love that special ability! Thanks!

    Positive commentAug 27, 2022
    0
    CrossOver Icon
    Wine icon
    • Almost everyone thinks Wine is a great CrossOver alternative.

    • Wine is the most popular Android, Mac, Linux & Android Tablet alternative to CrossOver.

    • Wine is the most popular Open Source & free alternative to CrossOver.

    • Wine is Free and Open SourceCrossOver is Paid and Proprietary
    • Wine is LightweightCrossOver is not according to our users
  2. PlayOnLinux - PlayOnMac icon
     241 likes

    PlayOnLinux is a graphical frontend for the Wine software compatibility layer which allows Linux and Mac users to install Windows-based video games, Microsoft Office (2000 to 2010), Microsoft Internet Explorer, as well as many other applications.

    42 PlayOnLinux - PlayOnMac alternatives
    PlayOnLinux - PlayOnMac screenshot 1

    License model

    • FreeOpen Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Linux
    • BSD
    • Wine
    • FreeBSD

    PlayOnLinux - PlayOnMac Features

    1.  Run Windows software
    2.  Run Windows Games
    3.  Ad-free
    PlayOnLinux - PlayOnMac iconCrossOver Icon

    PlayOnLinux - PlayOnMac VS CrossOver

    Is this a good alternative to CrossOver?
     
  3. Whisky icon
     18 likes

    Whisky provides a clean and easy to use graphical wrapper for Wine built in native SwiftUI. You can make and manage bottles, install and run Windows apps and games, and unlock the full potential of your Mac with no technical knowledge required.

    31 Whisky alternatives
    Whisky screenshot 1

    License model

    • FreeOpen Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Wine
    • Homebrew

    Properties

    1.  Lightweight

    Features

    1.  Dark Mode
    2.  Ad-free
    3.  Run Windows software
    Whisky iconCrossOver Icon

    Whisky VS CrossOver

    Is Whisky a good alternative to CrossOver?
     
  4. Parallels Desktop icon
     140 likes

    Virtualization software for running Windows, Linux, and other OSes on Mac. Supports Windows 11 on Apple Silicon, resource adjustments, and seamless app access and file sharing between OS environments.

    58 Parallels Desktop alternatives
    Parallels Desktop screenshot 1

    License model

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Chrome OS

    Parallels Desktop Features

    1.  Works Offline
    2.  Ad-free
    3.  Support for Multiple Monitors
    4.  Run Windows software
    5.  Support for Apple M1
    6.  Drag and Drop
    7. Microsoft 365 Copilot icon  Microsoft Office integration
    Parallels Desktop iconCrossOver Icon

    Parallels Desktop VS CrossOver

    Is Parallels Desktop a good alternative to CrossOver?
     
    Comments about Parallels Desktop as an Alternative to CrossOver
     
    Guest

    CrossOver emulates windows application layer. parallels creates a fully virtualised machine and requires Windows installation, like if it was a physical computer.

    Negative commentNov 11, 2015
    10
    Guest

    This is a virtualization tool, not a compatibility layer

    Negative commentFeb 25, 2019
    6
    CrossOver Icon
    Parallels Desktop icon
    • This alternative is disputed. Parallels Desktop is a legitimate CrossOver alternative, but it might have issues that some users think are important.

    • Parallels Desktop is the most popular commercial alternative to CrossOver.

    • Parallels Desktop is Paid and ProprietaryCrossOver is also Paid and Proprietary
  5. Mythic icon
     8 likes

    An open-source Epic Games Launcher alternative and normal game launcher for macOS written in Swift. We started this project to create a GUI frontend for Legendary and to play Windows games using game porting toolkit by Apple.

    47 Mythic alternatives
    Mythic screenshot 1

    License model

    • FreeOpen Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac

    Properties

    1.  Lightweight
    2.  Privacy focused

    Features

    1.  No Tracking
    2.  Ad-free
    3.  No registration required
    4.  Dark Mode
    5.  Game Launcher
    6. Discord icon  Discord integration
    Mythic iconCrossOver Icon

    Mythic VS CrossOver

    Is Mythic a good alternative to CrossOver?
     
  6. Pegasus icon
     26 likes

    Pegasus is a graphical frontend for browsing your game library (especially retro games) and launching them from one place. It's focusing on customizability, cross platform support (including embedded devices) and high performance.

    37 Pegasus alternatives
    Pegasus screenshot 1

    License model

    • FreeOpen Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Android
    • Raspberry Pi

    Pegasus Features

    1.  Portable
    2.  Game Launcher
    Pegasus iconCrossOver Icon

    Pegasus VS CrossOver

    Is Pegasus a good alternative to CrossOver?
     
    • Pegasus is the most popular Windows alternative to CrossOver.

    • Pegasus is Free and Open SourceCrossOver is Paid and Proprietary
  7. WineBottler icon
     28 likes

    WineBottler is an App to manage and wrap your Windows apps into convenient OS X apps. WineBottler helps you with running Windows programs on OS X.

    34 WineBottler alternatives
    WineBottler screenshot 1

    License model

    • FreeOpen Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Wine

    WineBottler Features

    1.  Run in existing prefix
    Discontinued

    The application has not been updated for almost three years: https://bitbucket.org/winebottler/winebottler/src/master/, https://bitbucket.org/winebottler/winebottler/src/master/It also does not support the latest versions of macOS: https://www.reddit.com/r/winehq/comments/j43ziq/comment/g7gqpk5/

    WineBottler iconCrossOver Icon

    WineBottler VS CrossOver

    Is WineBottler a good alternative to CrossOver?
     
    Comments about WineBottler as an Alternative to CrossOver
     
    Guest

    It's much more complicated than Crossover. CrossOver is simple to use and WineBottler is much more complicated

    Negative commentJun 23, 2017
    -2
    CrossOver Icon
    WineBottler icon
    • WineBottler is Free and Open SourceCrossOver is Paid and Proprietary
  8. Phoenicis icon
     1 like

    Phoenicis is a graphical front-end for Wine, a tool to help Linux and Mac users run games and programs for Windows. The future of PlayOnLinux and PlayOnMac.

    38 Phoenicis alternatives
    Phoenicis screenshot 1

    License model

    • FreeOpen Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Linux
    • Flathub

    Phoenicis Features

    1.  Run Windows Games
    2.  Run Windows software
    Phoenicis iconCrossOver Icon

    Phoenicis VS CrossOver

    Is Phoenicis a good alternative to CrossOver?
     
  9. Hangover icon
     2 likes

    This is Hangover, a project started by André Zwing and Stefan Dösinger in 2016 to run (x86_64)/x86_32 Windows applications on aarch64/(ppc64le)/x86_64 Wine. (Architectures in brackets are currently not supported).

    38 Hangover alternatives

    License model

    • FreeOpen Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Linux

    Hangover Features

    1.  Run Windows software
    Hangover iconCrossOver Icon

    Hangover VS CrossOver

    Is Hangover a good alternative to CrossOver?
     
  10. Q4wine icon
     17 likes

    Q4Wine is a qt4 GUI for wine that will help you manage wine prefixes and installed applications

    35 Q4wine alternatives
    Q4wine screenshot 1

    License model

    • FreeOpen Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Linux
    • BSD
    • Wine

    Q4wine Features

    1. File Explorer icon  Windows Explorer Extension
    Q4wine iconCrossOver Icon

    Q4wine VS CrossOver

    Is Q4wine a good alternative to CrossOver?
     
  11. Wineskin Winery icon
     19 likes

    Wineskin is a tool used to make ports of Windows software to Mac OS X. The ports are in the form of normal Mac application bundle wrappers. It works like a wrapper around the Windows software, and you can share just the wrappers if you choose.

    32 Wineskin Winery alternatives
    Wineskin Options Window

    License model

    • FreeOpen Source

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Wine

    Wineskin Winery Features

    1.  Run Windows software
    2.  Run Windows Games
    Discontinued

    Hasn't been updated in over 6 years and doesn't work on most modern versions of macOS: https://sourceforge.net/projects/wineskin/, https://github.com/Gcenx/WineskinServer#wineskin

    Wineskin Winery iconCrossOver Icon

    Wineskin Winery VS CrossOver

    Is Wineskin Winery a good alternative to CrossOver?
     
  12. Porting Kit icon
     13 likes

    Using Wineskin technology, Porting Kit is a PaulTheTall.com app that can install games and apps compiled for Microsoft Windows® in Mac OS X. It has access to a server where we store WSI files for more than 300 games, which can be installed by any Porting Kit user.

    29 Porting Kit alternatives
    Skyrim on Porting Kit

    License model

    • FreeProprietary

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac

    Porting Kit Features

    1.  Run Windows software
    Porting Kit iconCrossOver Icon

    Porting Kit VS CrossOver

    Is Porting Kit a good alternative to CrossOver?
     
    Comments about Porting Kit as an Alternative to CrossOver
     
    paulthetall

    Its free and has the same options.

    Positive commentJun 16, 2016
    1
    CrossOver Icon
    Porting Kit icon
    • Porting Kit is Free and ProprietaryCrossOver is Paid and Proprietary
12 of 16 CrossOver alternatives